PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Peter Le Feuvre
AU  - D Aldington
TI  - Know Pain Know Gain: proposing a treatment approach for phantom limb pain
AID  - 10.1136/jramc-2013-000141
DP  - 2014 Mar 01
TA  - Journal of the Royal Army Medical Corps
PG  - 16--21
VI  - 160
IP  - 1
4099  - http://militaryhealth.bmj.com/content/160/1/16.short
4100  - http://militaryhealth.bmj.com/content/160/1/16.full
SO  - J R Army Med Corps2014 Mar 01; 160
AB  - Phantom limb pain affects between 50 and 80% of amputees. With an increasing number of battle casualties having had an amputation after combat trauma, it is inevitable that both primary and secondary care clinicians will come into contact with a patient with phantom limb pain (PLP). It is widely acknowledged that its complex aetiology means that this condition is often poorly understood and difficult to manage. A growing pathophysiological understanding is shedding new light on the mechanisms which underlie PLP. Knowledge of these mechanisms will inform treatment and enable clinicians to plan and implement solutions which make a difference to those individuals with this condition. This paper seeks to outline current research into this condition and proposes an approach to treatment. This approach has been formulated from an amalgamation of clinical experience working with battle casualties at the Defence Medical Rehabilitation Centre, Headley Court.